Digital radio has recently allowed the replacement of space consuming analog RF circuitry with much more compact digital circuitry, thereby facilitating the ability to port designs rapidly to more advanced lithographies. Texas Instruments (TI) has proven this concept with its Digital RF Processor (DRP™) architecture, which it has successfully implemented in production versions of its Bluetooth BRF6xxx transceivers, among other chips. DRP implementation is consistent with the on-going trend toward RF-CMOS in the cellular area, making it attractive in terms of power consumption, cost, and the integration of multiple radios.
Phase Locked Loop (PLL) Oscillators are a key component in the design of radio frequency (RF) communication systems.